Yip Pin Xiu (; born 10 January 1992) is a Singaporean

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimm ...

swimmer. She is a five-time Paralympic gold medallist and 5 time World Champion, with two

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the 50 m backstroke S2 and the 100 m backstroke S2. Yip is Singapore's most decorated Paralympian. Most recently during the Para Swimming World Series Australia 2023, Yip clinched the gold medal in the Women's 100m backstroke multi-class event. She later also bagged her second gold medal in the Women's 50m backstroke on the final day of the competition. She has Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome and competes in the S2 category for the physically impaired. Since 2005, she has won medals in international competitions such as the

World Wheelchair and Amputee Games In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, Japan Paralympic Swimming Championships and International German Paralympic Swimming Championships. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

, she won a gold medal in the 50 metres backstroke and a silver medal in the 50 metres freestyle, setting

in both events. At the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

, she won a gold medal in the 100 metres S2 backstroke, setting a world record for that event, and another for her 50 m split. In 2009, she was named "Young Woman Achiever of the Year" by local magazine ''

Her World ''Her World'' is a monthly English-language magazine published in Singapore targeted at the female professionals reading market. It is also the first English-language women's magazine to be published in Malaysia and Singapore. History and profile ...

''. In honour of her feats at the Paralympic Games, she was conferred the

Pingat Jasa Gemilang The Pingat Jasa Gemilang ( en, Meritorious Service Medal) is a Singaporean national honour and medal instituted in 1962. It may be awarded to any person who has performed "''service of conspicuous merit characterised by resource and devotion to ...

(Meritorious Service Medal) during the National Day Awards ceremony in 2016. More recently, Yip was crowned Sportswoman of the Year (swimming) at the Singapore Disablility Sports Awards 2022. This was her third time earning this honour, having won the same award in 2019 and 2021. Her achievements have contributed to the widespread recognition of disabled athletes in the Singaporean public sphere.

Early life and education

Yip Pin Xiu was born on 10 January 1992, being the youngest of three children in her family. At birth, Yip was not born with atrophy of her limbs. Her symptoms only appeared when she was two years old. Due to her aunt witnessing her unable to extend and rotate her ankles, her family brought her to a doctor and she initially diagnosed it as muscular dystrophy.Profile – Yip Pin Xiu

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

Singapore, retrieved 18 December 2008. When Yip was five, she started swimming to improve her health and strengthen her muscles;Mindy Tan,
She misses gold with a stroke
", ''The New Paper'', 15 September 2008. nevertheless, by the age of thirteen, she had lost her ability to walk and had to use a wheelchair."The wonder of Pin Xiu", ''

TODAY Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'', 7 June 2008.Sim Chi Yin, "I like the way I am now", ''The Straits Times'', 17 September 2008. As a student, Yip first studied in Ai Tong Primary School and Bendemeer Secondary School, before she graduated from

Republic Polytechnic Republic Polytechnic (RP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education (Singapore), Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 2002, it is the first and only Polytechnic (Si ...

as back-up valedictorian and, as of 2017, Yip graduated from

Singapore Management University The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university is the only city campus in Singapore. It ranks third in Asia as a specialist university, behind Hong Kong University of Science and Techn ...

with a

Bachelor of Social Science The academic undergraduate degree of Bachelor of Social Science (BSS, B.Soc.Sc., or B.Soc.Sci.) requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. I ...

Swimming career

Early years

Yip started swimming competitively when she was twelve years old. After losing her ability to kick, Yip switched from the

front crawl The front crawl or forward crawl, also known as the Australian crawl or American crawl, is a swimming stroke usually regarded as the fastest of the four front primary strokes. As such, the front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a f ...

to the

and was reclassified from the S5 to the S2 category (lower numbers indicate more severe disabilities). Her previous coach was former Singaporean Olympic swimmer

Ang Peng Siong Ang Peng Siong (; born 27 October 1962 in Singapore) is a swimmer from Singapore, who once held World Number 1 ranking in the 50 m freestyle. As of 2012, he is Singapore's Swimming National Head Coach. Ang was ranked fifth in a list of ''Si ...

, while fellow Paralympic swimmer

Theresa Goh Theresa Goh Rui Si BBM (; born 16 February 1987) is a Singaporean swimmer and Paralympic medalist, with a bronze at the SB4 100m breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. She holds the world records for the SB4 50 metres and 200 m ...

is her close friend and role model. Besides swimming, Yip has participated in events to raise awareness of disabled sports, such as the Interschool Swimming Meets and

Montfort Secondary School Montfort Secondary School (MSS) is a Catholic school in Hougang, Singapore. Founded in 1916, it is a government-aided secondary education all-boys school. It is one of the seven institutions governed by St Gabriel's Foundation. History H ...

Track and Field Meet 2007. After successes in national championships, Yip participated in the Asia Paralympics Swimming Championship 2005, winning two gold medals. Her first international competition was the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games 2005, where she won two gold medals and a bronze. She then received four gold medals at the DSE Long Course Swimming Championships in 2006. In 2007, she won three gold medals at the Japan Paralympic Swimming Championships and four gold medals at the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games.

2008 Asian Paralympics

At the 4th ASEAN Para Games, Yip finished first in the women's 150 metres individual medley, clocking 4 minutes 56.34 seconds.Wang Meng Meng, "Yip smashes two world records for the disabled", ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...

'', 28 May 2008. She set a world record time of 1 minute 00.80 seconds in the 50 metres backstroke at the US Paralympic swimming trials. The 22nd International German Paralympic Swimming Championships saw her set a world record of 2 minutes 10.09 seconds in the 100 metres backstroke heats; in the finals, she was awarded the gold medal with a time of 2 minutes 08.09 seconds, bettering her own world record.

2008 Summer Paralympics

Yip started her 2008 Summer Paralympic Games campaign by breaking another world record, clocking 57.04 seconds in the women's 50 metres freestyle heats. However, she was narrowly beaten by Mexican swimmer

Patricia Valle Patricia Valle Benítez (born 7 February 1979) is a Mexican Paralympic swimmer and councillor of Corregidora Municipality. She is a multiple medalist in both Summer Paralympics, World Para Swimming Championships and Parapan American Games Th ...

in the finals, clinching a silver medal with a time of 57.43 seconds. In the women's 50 metres backstroke heats, she posted a time of 57.92 seconds, taking two seconds off her own world record."Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu is Singapore's golden girl", Channel NewsAsia, 16 September 2008. She then swam the women's 50 metres backstroke finals in a time of 58.75 seconds to win the gold medal. After she returned to Singapore, the president conferred Yip a state medal, the Meritorious Service Medal. The success of Yip and Laurentia Tan, who won two bronze medals in

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

events, sparked public debate about the treatment and recognition of disabled athletes in Singapore.Jeremy Auyong, "Unequal rewards can be made fairer", ''The Straits Times'', 19 September 2008. Letters to ''

'' criticised the poor coverage of the Paralympics. Many Singaporeans also commented about the disparity of the cash awards handed out by the government: S$1,000,000 for an Olympic gold and S$100,000 for a Paralympic gold.Jeanette Wang,
More for medalists
", ''The Straits Times'', 22 November 2008.Tan Yo-Hinn,
Paralympic hopefuls in line for more support
", ''TODAY'', 17 September 2008. When the issues were raised in Parliament, MCYS parliamentary secretary

Teo Ser Luck Teo Ser Luck (; Teochew pronunciation in Tâi-lô: ''Tionn Sir-la̍k''; born 8 June 1968) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Minister of State for Manpower between 2015 and 2017, Minister of State for Trade and Industry between ...

promised to study plans to give disabled athletes greater support and to include them in sporting programmes such as Project 0812, a training programme for top Singaporean sportspeople. Two months later, the cash rewards for Paralympic medals were doubled and funding for the Singapore National Paralympic Council was increased.

2015 Asian Paralympics

At the 8th ASEAN Para Games in 2015, she was the torch lighter with Tay Wei Ming and Gan Kai Hong Aloysius.

2016 Summer Paralympics

Yip participated in the

. On 10 September 2016, Yip swam in the finals of the 100 m backstroke, S2 class; her time of 2:07.09 was a new S2 world record, earning her a Paralympic gold medal. Her 59.38 split for the first 50 m of the race was also a new S2 world record; in both cases she overwrote her own world leading times. Her medal was Singapore's first at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. On 16 September, Yip won her (and Singapore's) second gold medal of the 2016 Games, this time in the 50 m backstroke finals, S2 class with a time of 1:00.33.

2018 Asian Paralympics

Yip also participated in the 2018 Asian Para Games, and won one gold medal and two bronze medals in total. On 8 October, she won her first gold medal for the 50 m backstroke, S1-4 class, and on 9 October, her first bronze medal for the 100 m freestyle, S1-4 class event. On 12 October, she won her second bronze medal on the 50 m freestyle, S1-4 class event with a time of 1:04.68, behind Peng Qiuping of China and Gabidullina Zulfiya of Kazakhstan, with times of 43.48s and 45.51s, respectively.

2020 Summer Paralympics

Yip participated in the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympic ...

. She won two gold medals, the women's 100m backstroke S2 and the women's 50m backstroke S2. Her current coach is ex-Olympian and current

Nominated Member of Parliament A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the president. They are not affiliated to any political party and do not represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in the P ...

, Mark Chay.

Political career

On 17 September 2018, Yip became a

(NMP) to the Singapore Parliament. Her term began on 22 September 2018, before she sworn into Parliament on 1 October 2018. Her term lasted approximately two years, serving until 23 June 2020.

Post swimming career

Yip is currently serving on the Athlete Committee of the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

as of 1 January 2022.

Personal life

In February 2022, Yip was awarded the President's Award for Inspiring Achievement; the first person to have been awarded this category in recognition of her contributions to sports and community work.

Honours

(Meritorious Service Medal)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yip, Pin Xiu Living people World record holders in paralympic swimming 1992 births Singaporean people of Cantonese descent People with muscular dystrophy Republic Polytechnic alumni Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang Paralympic swimmers of Singapore Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Singapore Paralympic gold medalists for Singapore Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Singaporean women in politics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Singapore Management University alumni Singaporean female freestyle swimmers Singaporean female backstroke swimmers S2-classified Paralympic swimmers 21st-century Singaporean women Medalists at the 2018 Asian Para Games